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<section article="gen" article_name="Environment" number="4-401" title_number="4" title_name="Water Management" subtitle_number="4" subtitle_name="Water Pollution Control and Abatement">
  <level label="a">
    <text>In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>“Cleanup” means abatement, containment, removal, and disposal of oil and the restoration of the environment to its existing state prior to a discharge.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <level label="1">
      <text>“Damages” means any damages for which liability exists under the laws of this State resulting from, arising out of, or related to the discharge or threatened discharge of oil.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>In addition, “damages” includes:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>The cost of assessing the damages;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Damages for injury to, destruction of, loss of, or loss of use of natural resources, including the reasonable costs of assessing the damage;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Damages for injury to or economic losses resulting from the destruction of real or personal property that shall be recoverable by a claimant who owns or leases that property;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>Damages for loss of subsistence use of natural resources, that shall be recoverable by any claimant who so uses natural resources that have been injured, destroyed, or lost, without regard to the ownership or management of the resources;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>Damages equal to the net loss of taxes, royalties, rents, fees, or net profit shares due to the injury, destruction, or loss of real property, personal property, or natural resources, that shall be recoverable by the State or a political subdivision of the State;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vi">
        <text>Damages equal to the loss of profits or impairment of earning capacity due to the injury, destruction, or loss of real property, personal property, or natural resources, that shall be recoverable by any claimant; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vii">
        <text>Damages for net costs of providing increased or additional public services during or after removal activities, including protection from fire, safety, or health hazards caused by a discharge of oil, that shall be recoverable by the State or a political subdivision of the State.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>“Discharge” means the addition, introduction, leaking, spilling, or emitting any oil to State waters or the placing of any oil in a location where it is likely to reach State waters.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <text>“Heating oil tank” means an aboveground or underground tank for the storage of heating oil for use as a fuel in heating a residential property.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="f">
    <text>“Lender” means a person who is:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>A holder of a mortgage or deed of trust on a site or a security interest in property located on a site; or</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>A holder of a mortgage or deed of trust who acquires title through foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="g">
    <level label="1">
      <text>“Management” means directing or controlling operations at a site or facility related to the storage or discharge of oil.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>“Management” does not include rendering advice on financial matters, rendering financial assistance, or actions taken to protect or secure a site or facility or property located on the site or at the facility, if the advice, assistance, or actions do not involve the storage, disposal, or remediation of discharged oil.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="h">
    <level label="1">
      <text>“Oil” means oil of any kind and in any liquid form including:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Petroleum;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Petroleum by–products;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Fuel oil;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>Sludge containing oil or oil residues;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>Oil refuse;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vi">
        <text>Oil mixed with or added to or otherwise contaminating soil, waste, or any other liquid or solid media;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vii">
        <text>Crude oils;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="viii">
        <text>Aviation fuel;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ix">
        <text>Gasoline;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="x">
        <text>Kerosene;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="xi">
        <text>Light and heavy fuel oils;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="xii">
        <text>Diesel motor fuel, including biodiesel fuel, regardless of whether the fuel is petroleum based;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="xiii">
        <text>Asphalt;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="xiv">
        <text>Ethanol that is intended to be used as a motor fuel or fuel source; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="xv">
        <text>Regardless of specific gravity, every other nonedible, nonsubstituted liquid petroleum fraction unless that fraction is specifically identified as a hazardous substance under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>“Oil” does not include:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Liquefied propane;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Liquefied natural gas; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Any edible oils.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="i">
    <level label="1">
      <text>“Oil storage facility” means any installation, structure or premises, aboveground or underground, in which oil is stored.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>“Oil storage facility” does not include any tank on a farm or private residence with a capacity to store 1,100 gallons or less of motor fuel or heating oil for noncommercial or personal use or any vessel.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="j">
    <level label="1">
      <text>“Person responsible for the discharge” includes:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>The owner of the discharged oil;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>The owner, operator, or person in charge of the oil storage facility, vessel, barge, or vehicle involved in the discharge at the time of or immediately before the discharge; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Any other person who through act or omission causes the discharge.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>“Person responsible for the discharge” does not include:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>A person who, without participating in the management of an underground oil storage tank, and who otherwise is not engaged in petroleum production, refining, or marketing, holds indicia of ownership in an underground oil storage tank primarily to protect its security interest in that underground oil storage tank if that person:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>Has not foreclosed on its security interest in the underground oil storage tank; or</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>Abandoned that underground oil storage tank under regulations of the Department within 180 days of acquiring the tank through foreclosure or other means;</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>A holder of a mortgage or deed of trust who acquires title to a property that is subject to a corrective action plan approved by the Department under this subtitle provided that the holder complies with the requirements, prohibitions, and conditions of the plan;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Subject to paragraph (3) of this subsection, a lender who extends credit for the performance of removal or remedial actions conducted in accordance with requirements imposed under this title who:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>Has not caused or contributed to a discharge of oil; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>Previous to extending that credit, is not a person responsible for the discharge at the site; or</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>Subject to paragraph (3) of this subsection, a lender who takes action to protect or preserve a mortgage or deed of trust on a site or a security interest in property located on a site at which a discharge of oil has occurred, by stabilizing, containing, removing, or preventing the discharge of oil in a manner that does not cause or contribute to a discharge of oil if:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>The lender provides advance written notice of its actions to the Department or in the event of an emergency in which action is required within 2 hours, provides notice by telephone;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>The lender, previous to taking the action, is not a person responsible for the discharge at the site; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="3">
          <text>The action does not violate a provision of this article.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>A lender taking action to protect or preserve a mortgage or deed of trust or security interest in property located on a site, who causes or contributes to a discharge of oil shall be liable solely for costs incurred in response to the discharge which the lender caused or to which the lender contributed unless the lender was a person responsible for the discharge before acquiring a mortgage, deed of trust, or security interest in the site or property located on the site.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="k">
    <text>“Removal costs” means the costs of removal that are incurred after a discharge of oil has occurred or, in any case where there is a substantial threat of a discharge of oil, the costs to prevent, minimize, or mitigate oil pollution from such an incident.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="l">
    <level label="1">
      <text>“Underground oil storage tank” means one or more tanks including underground pipes connected to tanks, with a volume of 10 percent or more beneath the surface of the ground.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>“Underground oil storage tank” does not include a:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Tank on a farm or private residence with a capacity to store 1,100 gallons or less of motor fuel or heating oil for noncommercial or personal use;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Septic tank;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Pipeline facility, including gathering lines, regulated under 49 U.S.C. 60101, et seq.;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>Intrastate pipeline facility regulated under State laws comparable to the provisions of the law referred to in item (iii) of this paragraph;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>Surface impoundment, pit, pond, or lagoon;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vi">
        <text>Stormwater or wastewater collection system;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vii">
        <text>Flow–through process tank;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="viii">
        <text>Storage tank situated in an underground area, such as a basement, cellar, mineworking, drift, shaft, or tunnel if the storage tank is situated upon or above the surface of the floor; or</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ix">
        <text>Pipe connected to any tank described in items (i) through (viii) of this paragraph.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
